St. Paul daily globe., 1887-11-14
MANY KINDS OF CRANKs.
Some of the Men With Halucina.
tiOns That Are in Our Midst.

some OF the Men with HaIuC1na-
tions That Are in Our Midst.
Every large city has its full share of
eccentric persons, Familiarity known as
cranlls, and the larger the city grows
this queer population increases in
proportion.
''lf you want to see some queer peo-
pie, just stay with me little while" 3"
said a we'll known student of human ma
ture to GLOBE man last evening.
The two proceeded to a prominent
corner and took up stand in shaded
doorway near by. They had not been
standing there long before the gentleman
this little man Closely" he said, indi-
eating a short man of slight build, who
was moving silently along with his face
turned towards the Illuminated store
windows. His actions were those of a
man with guilty conscience who feared
that detectives were on his path.
That man." said the reporters COM
panion, "suffers a living death. His
life is one of torture, all because of a
foolish fear and superstition. By keep
ing his face turned towards the street,
he is not hunting for cigar StumpS, but
to avoid looking into an undertaker'S
window. The sight of coffin is holy
horror to him. and you know undertak-
erS after dark usually have a little
white caSket sitting in window, and
the background of black cloth, all
shown off by the gas light, is in fact an
unpleasant sight. If that fellow saw
one | believe he'd have fit. / don't
KNOW why it is. / suppose he thinks it
an an i'll omen to look at one. But here
comes unother one of these cranks, just
watch him."
Down the street came rather a well
built, nice looking man. He walked at
medium pace, though at intervals he
would take short, skipping step,
SIMILAR TO A HOP.
His eyes were almost constantly fixed
on the pavement.
THAT fellow" said the gentleman,
SIS called crank jumper He
wouldn't step on one of those cracks
for any money, as it is bad sign for
him. Another kind wouldn't miss one
of those cracks for anything under the
sun, but go tearing along in sort of
shaky way, as though they were stumb-
ling over their own feet. But here
comes another kind of crank"
LOunging along in lazy, nonehalant
manner was young fellow with a
heavy oyercoat and black sloucb hat
pulled well over his eyes. No one eS-
capped his notice and it was easy to see
that he affected sharp, piercing gaze.
At times he looked as though he saw
people while affecting not to see them.
The scribe had made up his mind what
manner of crank this fellow was before
his companion spoke.
His highneSS there imagines he was
cut out for detective" explained the
gentleman. ''He wears a badge which
he had made for % or 80 cents and has
constituted himself a'private detective
His badge bears those words. You see
there is no law against any one becOm-
ing private detective, though of course
they have absolutely no power. The
only thing they can do is to act as a
stool pigeon for the police. This fel-
low has an admiring train composed of
the street gamin, and often he enter
tains them with huge yarns of his 'ex-
perienee' He is harmless and only a
poor crank. Once in while he makes
an attempt to disguise himself. Some
of these evenings he will be yanked in
by the police for 'masquerading in the
street. contrary to law. This will teach
him a thing or two"
The exhibition here ended for one
evening, though the gentleman prom
i:ed the reporter view of other crankS
and their eccentricitieS next week.